Biomechanics

Biomechanics is a vast discipline within the field of Biomedical Engineering. It explores the underlying mechanics of how biological and physiological systems move. It encompasses important clinical applications to address questions related to medicine using engineering mechanics principles. Biomechanics includes interdisciplinary concepts from engineers, physicians, therapists, biologists, physicists, and mathematicians. Through their collaborative efforts, biomechanics research is ever changing and expanding, explaining new mechanisms and principles for dynamic human systems. Biomechanics is used to describe how the human body moves, walks, and breathes, in addition to how it responds to injury and rehabilitation. Advanced biomechanical modeling methods, such as inverse dynamics, finite element analysis, and musculoskeletal modeling are used to simulate and investigate human situations in regard to movement and injury. Biomechanical technologies are progressing to answer contemporary medical questions. The future of biomechanics is dependent on interdisciplinary research efforts and the education of tomorrow’s scientists

Design and Development of an Affordable Haptic Robot with Force-Feedback and Compliant Actuation to Improve Therapy for Patients with Severe Hemiparesis

The study describes the design and development of a single degree-of-freedom haptic robot, Haptic Theradrive, for post-stroke arm rehabilitation for in-home and clinical use. The robot overcomes many of the weaknesses of its predecessor, the TheraDrive system, that used a Logitech steering wheel as the haptic interface for rehabilitation. Although the original TheraDrive system showed success in a pilot study, its wheel was not able to withstand the rigors of use. A new haptic robot was developed that functions as a drop-in replacement for the Logitech wheel. The new robot can apply larger forces in interacting with the patient, thereby extending the functionality of the system to accommodate low-functioning patients. A new software suite offers appreciably more options for tailored and tuned rehabilitation therapies. In addition to describing the design of the hardware and software, the paper presents the results of simulation and experimental case studies examining the system\u27s performance and usability

Coupling Disturbance Compensated MIMO Control of Parallel Ankle Rehabilitation Robot Actuated by Pneumatic Muscles

To solve the poor compliance and safety problems in current rehabilitation robots, a novel two-degrees-offreedom (2-DOF) soft ankle rehabilitation robot driven by pneumatic muscles (PMs) is presented, taking advantages of the PM’s inherent compliance and the parallel structure’s high stiffness and payload capacity. However, the PM’s nonlinear, time-varying and hysteresis characteristics, and the coupling interference from parallel structure, as well as the unpredicted disturbance caused by arbitrary human behavior all raise difficulties in achieving high-precision control of the robot. In this paper, a multi-input-multi-output disturbance compensated sliding mode controller (MIMO-DCSMC) is proposed to tackle these problems. The proposed control method can tackle the un-modeled uncertainties and the coupling interference existed in multiple PMs’ synchronous movement, even with the subject’s participation. Experiment results on a healthy subject confirmed that the PMs-actuated ankle rehabilitation robot controlled by the proposed MIMO-DCSMC is able to assist patients to perform high-accuracy rehabilitation tasks by tracking the desired trajectory in a compliant manner

Frontal plane roll-over analysis of prosthetic feet

In prosthetic walking mediolateral balance is compromised due to the lack of active ankle control, by moments of force, in the prosthetic limb. Active control is reduced to the hip strategy, and passive mechanical stability depends on the curvature of the prosthetic foot under load. Mediolateral roll-over curvatures of prosthetic feet are largely unknown. In this study we determined the mediolateral roll-over characteristics of various prosthetic feet and foot-shoe combinations. Characteristics were determined by means of an inverted pendulum-like apparatus. The relationship between the centre of pressure (CoP) and the shank angle was measured and converted to roll-over shape and effective radius of curvature. Further, hysteresis (i.e., lagging in CoP displacement due to material compliance or slip) at vertical shank angle was determined from the hysteresis curve. Passive mechanical stability varied widely, though all measured foot-shoe combinations were relatively compliant. Mediolateral motion of the CoP ranged between 4 mm and 40 mm, thereby remaining well within each foot's physical width. Derived roll-over radii of curvature are also small, with an average of 102 mm. Hysteresis ranges between 20% and 115% of total CoP displacement and becomes more pronounced when adding a shoe. This may be due to slipping of the foot core in its cosmetic cover, or the foot in the shoe. Slip may be disadvantageous for balance control by limiting mediolateral travel of the CoP. It may therefore be clinically relevant to eliminate mediolateral slip in prosthetic foot design

Design and Development of a Passive Prosthetic Ankle

abstract: In this work, different passive prosthetic ankles are studied. It is observed that complicated designs increase the cost of production, but simple designs have limited functionality. A new design for a passive prosthetic ankle is presented that is simple to manufacture while having superior functionality. This prosthetic ankle design has two springs: one mimicking Achilles tendon and the other mimicking Anterior-Tibialis tendon. The dynamics of the prosthetic ankle is discussed and simulated using Working model 2D. The simulation results are used to optimize the springs stiffness. Two experiments are conducted using the developed ankle to verify the simulation It is found that this novel ankle design is better than Solid Ankle Cushioned Heel (SACH) foot. The experimental data is used to find the tendon and muscle activation forces of the subject wearing the prosthesis using OpenSim. A conclusion is included along with suggested future work.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 201

A Loosely-Coupled Passive Dynamics and Finite Element based Model for Minimising Biomechanically Driven Unhealthy Joint Loads during Walking in Transtibial Amputees

The primary objective of a prosthetic foot is to improve the quality of life for amputees by enabling them to walk in a similar way to healthy individuals. Amputees su˙er from health risks including joint pain, back pain and joint inflammation. The aim of this thesis is to develop a new computational approach to reduce the likelihood of biomechanically driven joint pain in transtibial amputees resulting from sustained exposure to Unhealthy Loads (ULs) during walking. This is achieved by developing a computational methodology to achieve a customisable sti˙ness design solution for prosthetic feet so that the occurrence of unhealthy joint loads during walking is minimised.It is assumed that the healthy population is able to spend energy most optimally during walking at all walking speeds. During walking, the force exerted by the body on the ground is measured by the ground reaction force (GRF). The GRF value is normalised with the body weight defining a dimensionless parameter . The values are similar for both legs in healthy populations but are di˙erent for the sound and a˙ected leg for amputees. A new hypothesis has been proposed in this thesis that walking is comfortable for an amputee when the di˙erence between values is minimal between the amputee and an equivalent healthy population. The values for healthy adults, as well as amputees, follow a finite number of patterns. The pattern of the values (or the GRF curve) depends on the walking speed of an individual, categorised as slow, fast or free walking. However, it is observed in the literature that free walking speed (FWS) varies over a wide range for healthy individuals (e.g. 1.1 m/s to 1.5 m/s). As a result, it was diÿcult to establish a relationship between walking speed and GRF pattern. A novel parametrised description of GRF curves for a healthy population and amputees is proposed so that a new dimensionless velocity ratio parameter and the corresponding value of the FWS can be predicted by observing the GRF pattern of a healthy adult or an amputee. A new classification approach based on the parametrised description of GRF curves, along with the dimensionless velocity ratio parameter, has been recommended for categorising very slow, slow, free, fast and very fast walking. The GRF result predictions are validated on healthy adults in an experiment conducted in a gait lab. A group of candidates who walk a lot in their daily life were specially selected for this experiment. This classification approach is used to develop a new measure of ULs based on the parametrised GRF description for healthy population and amputees. An innovative computational methodology is proposed to design an optimal sti˙ness response of a prosthetic foot that minimises the occurrence of ULs. This is achieved by transferring the roll-over shape (ROS) information of the prosthetic foot and the corresponding information for a given velocity ratio across a passive walking dynamic (PWD) and a finite element model via a newly defined form of loose coupling. A theoretical case study is presented in which an amputee walks in a gait lab with a representative C-shaped prosthetic foot. The thesis explains how the proposed novel computational methodology is able to redesign the prosthetic foot in a way that is better suited to minimising ULs. The redesign process of the prosthetic foot has led to the development of an innovative 3D printable double keel and double heel design. With the advancement of carbon reinforced polymers and additive manufacturing technology, the sti˙ness customisation methodology proposed in this thesis has the potential to create a new generation of energy-eÿcient prosthetic feet

Design and validation of exoskeleton actuated by soft modules towards neurorehabilitation - vision-based control for precise reaching motion of upper limb

We demonstrated the design, production, and functional properties of the Exoskeleton Actuated by the Soft Modules (EAsoftM). Integrating the 3D printed exoskeleton with passive joints to compensate gravity and with active joints to rotate the shoulder and elbow joints resulted in ultra-light system that could assist planar reaching motion by using the vision-based control law. The EAsoftM can support the reaching motion with compliance realised by the soft materials and pneumatic actuation. In addition, the vision-based control law has been proposed for the precise control over the target reaching motion within the millimeter scale. % Aiming at rehabilitation exercise for individuals, typically soft actuators have been developed for relatively small motions, such as grasping motion, and one of the challenges has been to extend their use for a wider range reaching motion. The proposed EAsoftM presented one possible solution for this challenge by transmitting the torque effectively along the anatomically aligned with a human body exoskeleton. % The proposed integrated systems will be an ideal solution for neurorehabilitation where affordable wearable and portable systems are required to be customised for individuals with specific motor impairments

Biomechatronics: Harmonizing Mechatronic Systems with Human Beings

This eBook provides a comprehensive treatise on modern biomechatronic systems centred around human applications. A particular emphasis is given to exoskeleton designs for assistance and training with advanced interfaces in human-machine interaction. Some of these designs are validated with experimental results which the reader will find very informative as building-blocks for designing such systems. This eBook will be ideally suited to those researching in biomechatronic area with bio-feedback applications or those who are involved in high-end research on manmachine interfaces. This may also serve as a textbook for biomechatronic design at post-graduate level